High Altitude Chocolate Crumb Cake
For a delicious twist on a breakfast coffee cake, a moist and tender chocolate cake is topped with buttery walnut streusel crumbs.
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- ¾ cup + 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 6 tbsp unsweetened Dutch processed cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp instant espresso powder or instant coffee
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup whole milk
- ½ cup full fat sour cream
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
Crumble
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour fluffed, spooned and leveled
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ¼ cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line a 9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, or spray the pan with non-stick baking spray.
- In a bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
- Separately, whisk together the eggs, milk, sour cream, oil and vanilla.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and whisk just until combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Crumble
- In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt and walnuts. Add the melted butter, and stir together until moistened and crumbly.
- Sprinkle the crumble mixture evenly over the chocolate cake batter.
- Bake the cake for about 40-45 minutes, until a cake tester or toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, or with moist crumbs clinging to it.
- Set the pan on a cooling rack, and let cool for at least 45 minutes. Enjoy the cake warm, or at room temperature.
Notes
Store leftover cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
https://curlygirlkitchen.com/